Discover 9 opportunities in China

The Tilburg University Economics Ranking Sandbox For anyone that doesn’t know it, the Tilburg University Economics Ranking, which ranks economics departments based on contributions to articles published in any one of 62 (mostly English-language) economics-related journals, is well worth a look.

With rapid globalisation making relocation to a new country easier, more and more students are choosing to travel abroad to study. If you have already completed an undergraduate degree and feel confident in your knowledge and skills, then a postgraduate course in a foreign country can be a wonderful learning experience. While it's common to move across Europe or to the United States for graduate study, there are also great opportunities for studying further afield in Asia. China is a strong contender in the education sector – with thousands of universities in a booming higher education system – and the government is investing more money into higher education for the future. But why should you consider graduate study in China? Read on to find out.

Choosing a destination to study abroad in, either for a semester or the entire degree, can be an extremely daunting task. Mainland China is currently home to thousands of international students looking for an international education. Since the 1990s, China has been rapidly expanding its number of universities and higher education programs. This expansion runs parallel to the large economic growth that China continues to experience, making Chinese universities an attractive destination for international students. Thousands of students from around the world are going to China to experience the waking of the ‘sleeping dragon’ and the fast growth of the Chinese markets. All major cities in China have at least one university, and international students are often drawn to these metropolitan hubs.

Data Source: RePEc, Top 12.5% Asia, as of January 2013

Source: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (China), The Survey of Earned Doctorates, National Science Foundation (US)

Following our earlier post from November about Economics Conferences in 2013, we have now published a (chronological) list of Conferences in Economics and Statistics taking place in the Asia-Pacific Region. If you know of other interesting, economics-related events in the region, please share these with us in the comments at the end of this post.

The China Economic Review from last month ran an interesting piece by John van Fleet about the 150,000+ Haigui (海归) currently studying in the USA (Haigui, literally “Sea Turtles” is the name given to Chinese students studying abroad). Van Fleet discusses not only the challenges of interaction between international and domestic students, but also the economic impact for both host and origin country.